The Kassingers have lived in their classic cedar-shingled house for 21 years. Its side deck had begun to deteriorate and was in desperate need of a makeover. They faced a tough decision: Rebuild it or create something entirely new? They chose the latter.
The result is a unique addition incorporating crucial design elements of the existing 81-year-old structure while introducing a new, modern area to serve the family’s dynamic needs. The decision to build the 600-square-foot addition also came in part because of Ruth Kassinger’s growing interests. For one, she had recently begun to collect and study tropical botany. After visiting the U.S. Botanical Garden, she was overcome by the way in which plants could drastically impact a room’s feel and appearance. “I first thought, ‘This is absolutely divine, spirit-lifting,’” she recalls. “It was very inspiring.”
From there, the plans for the new space were in motion. “We’d been thinking about what we wanted in that space for a year or two—a screened porch was our first idea—before I got interested in a conservatory and we started working with Ben Van Dusen on the design,” she explains.
Creating a conservatory was not the only design requirement in the plan. Ruth Kassinger also had a desire to “relearn how to swim,” a goal that ultimately drove the project to its fruition. “I just thought I’d really like to be a better swimmer,” she says. “And I just knew I could do it. I had been taught so long ago, and like most things, there are always improvements that are possible.”
Van Dusen, principal of Van Dusen Architects in Washington, DC, set to work creating a structure that combined all of these elements. Since the yard was not large enough for a separate pool house and conservatory, he faced a unique challenge: How to make the space into “just another room in the house” without allowing it to overwhelm the interior.
The Kassingers also employed the help of Dave Weaver, general manager of Greenwald Cassell Associates, to accomplish the tough task of building the addition onto the existing house. Weaver and his team had collaborated with the Kassingers on a previous remodeling project, which opened their home’s attic into a bedroom/office space. “Having worked with the Kassingers before, we had a really good relationship with them,” says Weaver.
Constructing the addition was no easy feat, explains Weaver, due to the narrow shape of the lot. Since the neighboring homes sit close by, there was also a question of access. To solve the problem, Weaver and his team partially removed the back wall in the original garage to bring in small equipment, then rebuilt it after construction.
With a bounty of luxurious amenities and a clean overall design, the combined conservatory/pool house is clearly a notable accomplishment. From the outside, the addition blends smoothly with the older structure. “We ‘toothed-in’ the shingles, which blended the old to the new so you couldn’t tell where the transition was,” says Weaver.
Inside, plants provide year-round color. In one corner, a creeping fig plant literally climbs the wall; in another, a Staghorn fern juts out from a hanging bark frame. But amidst this urban jungle, the serene pool takes precedence.
Opting to save space, the Kassingers chose an Endless Pool (often referred to as a swimmer’s treadmill) that measures only seven feet wide and 13 feet long. It features an adjustable current, which allows the swimmer to change the rate at which she swims with simple control knob.
To create this unique space, two outside-facing walls were removed and replaced with sliding glass doors imported from France. The doors stretch from floor to ceiling, and seamlessly divide the addition from the adjacent family room and kitchen while simultaneously addressing the moisture factor from the pool.
While many conservatories have all-glass roofs, the Kassingers instead opted for a solid roof punctuated by skylights. The skylights, which open and close electronically, are designed to let as much light into the north-facing room as possible. “If it gets too hot, the shades over the skylights also are automatic,” explains Weaver. A variety of light sources, including recessed fixtures, suspended cable and wall lights, present a number of ambient options in the space, which the family often uses as a casual dining room at night.
The sand-colored limestone floor and neutral-toned walls extend an airy feeling while creating the right atmosphere for Ruth’s conservatory. “I needed the light to reflect, so I definitely wanted the light-colored floor and light-colored walls,” Kassinger says. The floor also has radiant heat, which can be programmed to turn on at specified times and at adjustable temperatures. These conditions create the perfect environment for tending plants, says Kassinger, who is now writing a book that will document how to build and stock a conservatory.
To establish a seamless transition from the addition to the existing house, Van Dusen extended the addition into the adjoining rooms. He pulled back the roof from a previous family room addition (completed in 1990) and installed a tubular row of skylights, placed directly above the basement staircase. He also extended the limestone tile floor past the glass door dividers. “We put that long narrow skylight over the stairs so that it dramatizes the change in elevation in the house,” Van Dusen explains.
While everything about the addition was carefully planned, documented and executed, the space also afforded the Kassingers an unexpected twist. They finally found the ideal location for a small dog door for their pet, Scotia.
Says Van Dusen, “We think it wound up in the perfect spot. It was just one of those funny little things that came together.”
Writer Meredith Stanton is based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Kenneth M. Wyner is a Takoma Park, Maryland-based photographer.
Project Architecture: Benjamin Van Dusen, AIA, Van Dusen Architects, Washington, DC. Project Construction: Dave Weaver, Greenwald Cassell Associates, McLean, Virginia.
The addition, which replaced a deteriorated side deck,
blends in with the original house seamlessly. Skylights
that open and close electronically let as much light as
possible into the space.
The space-saving Endless Pool features a current that
can be adjusted according to a swimmer’s speed. Plants
surround the pool with year-round color.
“Somebody once said, you need some tension in every room—a little surprise to keep you on your feet,” says Martens. “You don’t want design to become too contrived. You always need to keep that sense of humor.”
To both ends, the couple has been successful. Marrying Martens’s attention to detail in interior design with Djabbarzadeh’s eye for architectural charm, they succeeded in creating a comfortable, European-inspired home in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, DC, perfect for their quiet yet sophisticated lifestyle.
When the Swiss-born Djabbarzadeh purchased the property about 20 years ago and built the European stucco and stone house (a feat that took nearly three years), he considered every detail, from the design right down to the topography of the land. But after the couple met in 2000 and later married, Martens set to work putting her personal touch on the home’s interior.
Working with the house that Djabbarzadeh had custom-built from the ground up was reassuring to the couple, because they knew they wouldn’t have to worry about hidden problems or the need for remodeling down the line. “Sometimes, when you buy an existing property, you’re dealing with old spaces and lots of renovations,” says Martens. “It’s never exactly what you want it to be.”
Besides, “Washington is a transient city. If you really want to take roots in the house like I did, the best way of doing that is building it entirely the way you want to,” explains her husband. Touches of the couple’s Belgian and Swiss backgrounds are infused throughout both the interior and exterior of the warm, tan-colored house. A three-bedroom floor plan integrates modern European design featuring clean, open spaces as opposed to the “nooks and crannies” approach so typically found in more traditional, Victorian-style homes, says Martens.
“A lot of things in this house are symmetrical,” says Martens. “Everything is well balanced. We believe that when [the design] is simple, it always stays classical. It withstands the test of time.”
Upon entering the home through the French doors, this is instantly apparent. Guests find themselves in a nearly 11-foot-high central hall, with the living room to the left, the dining room to the right and a direct line-of-sight to the expansive windows, which open onto the back garden. The staircase is discreetly placed off of the entryway, but nonetheless grand with its large sitting bench and floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a bamboo garden. A green decorative paint treatment throughout the foyer brings the outside in, while the wood herringbone floor further guides you into the house.
To counterbalance the green of the entryway, Martens designed the living room in understated taupe colors using warm fabrics of silk and velvet. Two overstuffed sofas facing each other create a centerpiece in the room, promoting a good conversation or, at the very least, offering a relaxing place to sit. An antique gilded mirror hangs over the natural marble fireplace, both of which were acquired in France. Red Italian silk drapes offset the muted, neutral colors of beige and wood in the room, while lifting your eye to the decorated gold-leafed crown molding. More color is found in the wall display of Chinese temple fruit, a collection that spans three centuries. An antique Venetian Murano glass chandelier hangs delicately from the ceiling, playing off the colors and abundant natural light from the seven sets of windows and doors in the room.
Overall, the look is formal, but still cozy. “We do everything in the living room,” says Martens. “It’s formal in here, but it’s also informal enough to sit in your PJs and read the paper. There used to be a rug in here but we took it out because we both thought it made the room too traditional. Without a rug, it opened it up. We just like to use every space in the house.”
Since the couple frequently entertains small groups of guests, the dining room didn’t need to be cavernous, merely elegant. The black and gold dining room table, designed by Djabbarzadeh, sits comfortably in the middle of the room surrounded by 18th-century English chairs made of ebonized wood and decorated with polychrome painting. Warm mahogany paneled walls, rich hues and a black marble wood-burning fireplace create more of a den-like feeling, rather than an over-the-top dining area—a design perfectly suited for the couple’s intimate dinner parties.
For the larger events, the room can accommodate an arrangement of tables or even one big one. “The squareness of the room allows us to mix and match depending on who we’re entertaining,” says Martens.
When dining at home together, they prefer to use a small table set off of the kitchen. The couple’s unpredictable charms are particularly evident here, where cabinetry seamlessly folds into the wall behind mahogany woodwork and unconventional limestone graces the kitchen counters. Track-lighting fixtures add an element of modern design to the otherwise traditional sitting room off the kitchen. “We did [the kitchen] with a lot of woodwork so it didn’t really feel like a kitchen,” explains Martens. “We also wanted the kitchen to be a continuum that you could just go through, and not have the separation between it and the rest of the spaces. Everything is done so that it’s attractive, but also very functional. And now and then, we like to throw you off and have a very contemporary element somewhere that gives an element of surprise. Design should never be predictable.”
Outdoors, Djabbarzadeh has created an Old World design with a garden reminiscent of one that might be found in a French villa. Separated into three distinct areas, the main space is centered with the rustic, stone terrace off the back of the house, and features a trellis-covered terrace overlooking a small pond. In essence, the design creates a country feel in a city house. Stone walls and plants divide the large space, with smaller gardens to the left and right.
“When you look in the backyard, it’s really a continuation of rooms,” says Martens. “It’s not an open garden. The walls of the house continue through the green separations.”
The landscape is central to Martens’ interior design. Large windows and doors throughout every room offer expansive views of the garden or courtyard. Upstairs, the master bedroom and bath feature garden elements, including a bamboo scene painted above the bathtub (complete with a small, winking salamander) and a floral motif used throughout the bedroom. Even on the second floor, “you create that sense of remembering where you are, and what the outside looks like,” explains Martens. Given that the couple works from home, they opted to remove a stone wall in their front courtyard, replacing it with a large space for their new offices and a garage for three vehicles. All of the work should be completed this fall. But don’t be amazed if the work doesn’t stop there. “Good design is a process,” Martens says. “It’s never ‘Do it all and then you’re done.’ You start with a thought; you think you have everything planned. But, then there are just more nice surprises.”
In the master bath, a decorative-paint treatment depicts